VK Singh will go to Iraq to bring back mortal remains of Indians killed in Iraq

March 20, 2018, 10:42 am

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said in the Rajya Sabha that 39 Indians who were taken hostage by the ISIS in 2015 have been presumed dead. The EAM said in the Rajya Sabha that deep penetration radar confirmed that all Indians were dead after all bodies were exhumed. 39 Indians were kidnapped in Iraq's Mosul.

"Mortal remains were sent to Baghdad. For verification of bodies DNA samples of relatives were sent there, four state governments, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal & Bihar were involved," informed EAM on 39 Indians who were kidnapped in Mosul.

A 70 percent match was established for the 39th body. Earlier the government had maintained that the kidnapped Indians were alive. Not only this, the EAM personally had met the families of these kidnapped individuals and had assured them that the government was "fully and continuously engaged" and "every possible effort" was being made to get them released.

"Yesterday we got information that DNA samples of 38 people have matched and the DNA of the 39th person has matched 70 percent," said Swaraj.

"General VK Singh will go to Iraq to bring back the mortal remains of Indians killed in Iraq. The plane carrying the mortal remains will first go to Amritsar, then to Patna and then to Kolkata," informed the EAM.